“This bill would effectively allow a fertile woman, either single or in a lesbian relationship, to create a family and relegate a man’s contribution to being nothing more than an anonymous sperm donor,” Mr Flynn said.

“It devalues a man and the important role and contribution fatherhood plays in a child’s development. Public policy should seek to support and affirm the value both a mother and father provide in a child’s development,” he said.

Mr Flynn said the upper house passed the bill by a narrow margin of 12 -9 on the 1st of May and urged lower house members to prevent it becoming law.

“Children have a fundamental right to be born from natural origins and this right is acknowledged by the international Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that a child shall have, ‘as far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents’,” he said.

He said both the Australian Medical Association and the Doctors Opposed to Euthanasia have raised concerns about the bill.

“Legalising euthanasia would put society’s most vulnerable people at risk. Doctors, as healthcare providers, are expected to protect and promote life, not end life or encourage the ending of life,” he said.